"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." In some ways Bob Marley had never spoken truer words; in others, during times of self-inflicted despair, it felt like a complete lie.
Music was my only escape from the harsh words and disappointed looks I got during my childhood. The laughs, the taunts, the disapproval from every direction; music blocked all of that out. But at the same time, I couldn't lie to myself and say that it was anything but the music's fault.
My so called unachievable goal planted its seed in my adolescent mind the first time my hands hesitantly pressed down on one of the white keys, of the old piano that stood forgotten in the basement of my grandparents' rundown home. The sound the key made was sour and out of pitch in every single way, but I loved it.
From that day on, my requests to see my grandparents became more frequent and feverish. My young mind almost going into hysterics when the beloved travels failed to become reality.
My parents remained ignorant to my still discovering self, for almost two whole years. The secret being unfolded in front of their eyes one fateful evening when I forgot to make my way out of the basement by the time they came to pick me up.
My mothers' shocked face was the first thing I remember seeing when she opened the door. The calmness of it all reminded me of the famous saying that had flooded my ears for the first time, only a few months earlier. The one talking about "the calm before the storm." That was what that moment was. An almost crippling calm, making the hair stand up at the back of my neck in warning, before a frenzy of limbs being pulled and disappointed shouts developed in less than a heartbeat.
"Is this what you have been wasting your time with? Something as useless as music? Your father and I only let you come here because we thought you were helping your grandparents live comfortably! We are suffering enough as it is, and you spend your time playing an old piano instead of earning money so our family can eat? You are never playing that piano again!"
My trip home that night was accompanied by a mind clouded with sadness and darkness. I still have some regrets about that night, today. My forgetfulness and music consumed mind, revealing my secret was a big regret that I, after some time, realized would have happened in the end no matter what I did. My biggest regret about that fateful night was however how I revealed my dream to my mother.
"I want to become a musician."
What I always thought would be acceptance, turned into anger and disapproval. Being thrown out of my house was the first consequence of that mistake.
Never speaking to my parents again was the second.
YOU ARE READING
Broken Keys
Short Story"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." In some ways Bob Marley had never spoken truer words; in others, during times of self-inflicted despair, it felt like a complete lie.
